During a video interview with Metal Covenant, a beer swilling Kroeger bragged about Nickelback’s versatility, saying, “I can’t think of another band that’s as diverse as we are.” In response, the interviewer brought up Stone Sour, and the fireworks began.

Apparently triggered, Kroeger claimed Stone Sour was “trying to be Nickelback” and took Taylor to task for allegedly claiming how easy it is to write a hit song. “Show me,” Kroeger said. “Write one. I have yet to hear one… They’re okay, but they’re not as good as Nickelback. They sound like Nickelback Lite.”

Kroeger then moved his attention to Taylor’s other band, his former labelmates Slipknot. “They had to put on masks and jump around,” he said. “How good can your music be if you’ve got to beat each other up on stage, throw up in your own masks every night?”

“Music shouldn’t come with a gimmick. Music should just be music… And he [Taylor] got tired of sitting behind a mask — he wanted people to know what he looks like — so he started Stone Sour.”

As Billboard points out, Taylor actually founded Stone Sour in 1993, putting the band on hold when he joined Slipknot in 1997. Despite Kroeger’s shaky facts, he does have a point about relying on gimmicks, but it’s likely to fall on deaf ears considering his band’s status as the world’s punching bag.

Watch the interview below. The action starts around 8:18.

Update: Smash Mouth has chimed in!

We see what Chad is saying but Slipknot has more than pulled it off. It feels authentic, they nailed it! They're American Icons.